La Vida!; 2012

This slick, sultry slice of soul-funk is the second cut from Detroit producer (and Slum Village DJ) Dez Andrés’ debut EP, New For U, on his brand new label venture, La Vida. Reminiscent of the crisp yet dusty crate excavations from departed fellow Michigan and Slum Village alum, J. Dilla (whose birthday roughly coincides with the date of this release), or the jazz-hop experimentation of Flying Lotus’ ‘Do the Astral Plane’, Andrés spins together sparkling ribbons of wordless voice and horn samples in harmony with a stiff golden age Phil Spector-style backbone.

Cutting through the noise of contemporary musical fashion, the Motown beat-smith styles a modern classic from the deep pile of antique spare parts left by generations of tinkerers in the Motor City garage, one whose soft, organic touch belies its heavy-duty history. Blurred as if by the sooty fires from past decades’ riots, here genre is but form for the MPC sewing machine, a narrative teased out by the title track and B side, ‘Jazz Dance’. These are the honey sweet whispers of a Midwestern musical legacy forged on cracked pavement beneath rolling Whitewalls, gunked-up pistons, and smoking pistol barrels, where hip-hop shakes hands with Martha Reeves, and house invites techno to reminisce over a drink on the stoop.